The architectural drawings depicting the $12-million renovation planned for Memorial Gardens show a packed house with rabid hockey fans.

In addition to better seats and a new section in the south, a longer ice surface, corporate box seats and other modern features, there will be a three-storey addition with a glass wall greeting visitors.

It will be interesting to see if the North Bay Battalion will be able to draw that same kind of crowd once they start their first season in the city next fall.

Ontario Hockey League events are much more than a mere game between young professional prospects. Top of the line video scoreboards and sound systems offer ticket holders the hype and buzz of a Hollywood event worth the price of admission.

This is good because great hockey in itself isn't enough to lure people into arenas these days.

The Nipissing Lakers, for example, iced an exciting team this season, building on a foundation of three surprisingly successful years. Fast and furious, the hockey was a pure reflection of how the game can be played.

But without the glitz and glamour of live music and Laker Maniacs spicing things up in the playoffs, it felt dry and dull with many empty rows and partially filled sections.

The North Bay Jr. Trappers have also built a winner, topping the NOJHL during the regular season. And their semi-final playoff round against Kirkland Lake was a classic one-goal series from start to finish.

There's enough talent and OHL prospects involved to attract puck-mad fans. It didn't feature any of the bush-league antics that hurt the league in years past.

Despite this, it would be a lie to say they've generated consistently impressive turnout from so-called Hockeyville 2007.

The championship series begins Friday with the Trappers hosting the Soo Thunderbirds, a worthy opponent all season long. The team features great checking, passing and goaltending and has earned a packed house.

I'm told the Battalion brass are determined to be a valuable community partner and they are confident this will be a win-win for North Bay. With commitments for 2,600-plus season tickets and corporate sponsors lining up to get on board, they've already won part of the battle.

Not that winning is everything, hope can only float the boat for so long.

Several weeks ago, as the Battalion travelled Highway 11 to Sudbury for Game 3 of their opening round series, the favoured squad from Brampton was tied 1-1.

I wrote about how North Bay fans are fickle and they usually only support winners, so it's a good thing the Battalion have a solid track record.

They've proven adept at drafting strong talent that ends up in the NHL and make the playoffs more often than many teams do.

Last year they swept Sudbury out of the first round, which is good, because North Bay fans love taking the howl out of the Wolves, I wrote.

They couldn't buy a goal after that column was published and the Wolves rode a hot goalie into the second round, leaving the Battalion in the dust.

My sincere apologies for putting a hex on the Battalion snipers. It would have been better for everyone — including city councillors — for them to make a deep run into the playoffs and maybe get a sniff at the Memorial Cup before they left Brampton.

Any kind of success would have helped buffer the possibility of financial hiccups as the wedding between the team and city goes forward.

Copies of the contract between the city and Battalion are beginning to surface, with some of the fine print likely to make big headlines as skeptics underline potential municipal liabilities.

All the positive reassurances about the investment paying for itself and offering economic growth opportunities won't sound very comforting.

Only a packed Gardens resonating with the sound of 4,000 elated fans and meeting projected profit margins will drown out the naysayers.